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“Cheers to that.” I hold the bottle of red wine up and then go to hand it to Violet. She just shakes her head with a shy smile. I check to see that everyone is distracted with their food before quirking one brow at her. She nods and looks away, cheeks and chest going crimson. Dang. Another baby Harding on the way already.
The fact of the matter is, I’m not ashamed of Stefan Dalca. At all. Luckily, Billie sort of let it go after I dropped that atomic bomb on girls’ night. She tossed out a joking, ‘Well, you know what they say: love is blind!’ and then dropped the topic altogether.
The only thing that’s certain about where I’m going is that Mira will be with me when I get there. I’ll make sure of it. I’m playing for keeps.
“If there was any uncertainty in your mind about where we stand, let me clear that up for you now.” He slows his thrusts, pulling out and then driving in hard, rattling my body with the force of his claim. “You are mine.” My hands slip on the desk, and my legs shake. “And I am yours.”
“Aw, nah. I love this place. Did Mira tell you I used to bartend here?” Mira freezes, pint glass held high as her eyes bore into mine over the rim. All the sounds around us blur to white noise as I drag my eyes off of the woman I thought I trusted to take in the man sitting across from her.
Son. The word fills my mind and blankets my vision. After all this time, he’s been sitting right under my nose. And the woman I thought I might be falling in love with fucking knew.
“I mean, really, Mira? Do you ever do anything that doesn’t benefit you in some way?”
“I know we don’t have the same dad.” “Pardon?” “Look at us, Stefan. I’m a dead ringer for Mom. You look like you belong to the milk man. Or as it’s currently looking, the barn manager down the road.”
He chuckles again. It’s warm and comforting, and genuinely happy. I ache for that sound. The sound I missed growing up. And when he winks at me, my mind flashes with moments in my life when I missed that exact look. My graduation. Swim meets. I could have had that.
I’m drunk. It’s eleven a.m. on a Wednesday, and I’m drunk. With my dad. Talk about things I never thought would happen.
Did my grandmother just call Stefan Dalca sexy?
I take one look into my newfound father’s eyes, and something passes between us. An understanding. An agreement. I only just found him, and now I might lose him. But if I don’t at least try to get her out of there, I will lose myself. He nods at me, and with his blessing, I push through the line of firefighters.
“Listen, Mimi.” I groan and shake my head. Billie is insane in the best possible way. “I was wrong. And I’m sorry. Any man who loves you as much as he does is a winner in my book.”
“I mean, I need another dumb brother like I need a fucking hole in the head. But here I am with one anyway.” She gestures across at Stefan’s sleeping form.
His breath shudders, and his hand shoots into my hair, lovingly cupping my head. “I can’t ever lose you. I’m so sorry I walked away.” His words rumble across my scalp as he burrows into me. “I love you too fucking much.”
His lips press against one cheek, in the sweetest kiss. “I love you.” Before moving over to the other, butterflies erupt in my stomach. “I love you.” Our lips meet in a soul-searing kiss, the perfect fit, and he says it a third time. “I love you.”
“Stefan…” This is torture. I can’t even tell if she’s taking forever to say it or if time is standing still. Her full, soft lips tip into a smile. “I’d like you to officially meet your father.” Hank barks out a loud laugh, leaning back in his chair with an exaggerated clap.
“Now go hug your dad.” So, I do. I round the table and walk right into Hank’s wide-open arms. My dad’s wide-open arms. God. That feels good. “Nice to officially meet you, son.”
After the fire, Billie approached me with a deal. Half-ownership of the little colt for everything I’d done to help with saving him.
“Mira Thorne, would you do me the incredible honor of being my wife?”
